32 Bold Predictions for the NFL Season – The South

For part 4 of this series, I will discuss the AFC and NFC South divisions. If you missed either of the first two, check out my Bold Predictions for the East and West. Let’s dig right in with the Colts in the AFC South.

Indianapolis Colts: Jonathan Taylor

Taylor repeats as THE RB1 in over a decade.

Last season Taylor had more rushing yards than anyone else and it wasn’t close. His 1,811 rushing yards were more than 500 yards than the next running back. Two major factors that lead to fantasy success for running backs are touches and offensive line. Last year Taylor finished with 332 carries and 40 receptions.

With no one else to threaten him for significant touches, he should be in line for another heavy workload. The Colts have a good offensive line and should be healthier than last year when three of their five starters dealt with injuries. Taylor will see 350+ touches again this year for at least 1,800 total yards and 18 total touchdowns.

Tennessee Titans: Wide Receivers

Titans won’t have a top 30 wide receiver.

This offseason the Titans traded away A.J. Brown and released Julio Jones. They traded for Robert Woods and drafted Treylon Burks with the 18th pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. Woods who just turned 30 and is coming off an ACL tear is expected to be the No. 1 option. In nine seasons Woods has only two seasons with over 1,000 yards and has never had more than eight touchdowns. Burks is a rookie who has asthma and has been affected by it during minicamp. Now, I don’t think it will be a major problem for him long-term but it could cause him to get off to a slow start.

Last year Ryan Tannehill threw for less than 3,800 yards and only 21 passing touchdowns. The last time he threw for 4,000 yards was in 2015 and he has only one season with more than passing 27 total touchdowns.

Jacksonville Jaguars: Travis Etienne

Etienne will finish as a top 10 RB. 

I think Etienne and Trevor Lawrence will pick up right where they left off in Clemson. Etienne can be productive as a runner and as a pass-catcher. Also, James Robinson is coming off an Achilles injury and there is no guarantee that he will make a full recovery. I believe Etienne will take the starting job and run with it. The Jaguars don’t have an elite wide receiver which will allow for Etienne to have plenty of opportunities for receptions. I got Etienne with 50+ receptions and around 1,400 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Houston Texans: Brandin Cooks

Cooks finishes outside the top 24 for the first time in his career when missing fewer than two games.

Since entering the league Cooks has been a lock to finish top 20 when playing a full season but like my grandpa used to say “ALL good things MUST come to an end.” This is Cooks’s worst quarterback/offensive play-caller combo of his career. In the past, he has had Drew Brees and Sean Payton, Tom Brady and Josh McDaniels, Jared Goff and Sean McVay who all are far superior to Davis Mills and Pep Hamilton. 

Mills averaged only 228 yards per game in the 11 games that he played from start to finish last year. Also, Nico Collins seems to have taken a step forward and has been praised for his grasp of the offense.

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NFC South

Carolina Panthers: D.J. Moore

Moore finishes outside the top 15 at WR.

Moore is on a team with a bad quarterback in Sam Darnold and an above-average quarterback in Baker Mayfield as well as a bad head coach in Matt Rhule. Darnold has never played a full season and his best season is 3,024 passing yards and just 19 passing touchdowns. Mayfield has only supported a top 12 wide receiver once and is coming back from a torn labrum injury. Many people think Mayfield is going to come in and be the savior for Moore, but he is not guaranteed to start Week 1.

Moore has never had more than four receiving touchdowns in any season. Last season Moore had 93 receptions which were his career-best and that was with Christian McCaffrey missing more than half the season due to injury. McCaffrey has never had fewer than 80 receptions in a season when fully healthy. Also in the three seasons that McCaffrey was fully healthy, he averaged more receiving touchdowns than Moore.

New Orleans Saints: Jameis Winston

Winston finishes as a top 10 QB.

Jameis Winston is coming into his second season as the starting quarterback for the Saints and I see him having a big season. I got him with 4,200+ passing yards and 35+ passing touchdowns. Alvin Kamara is looking at a possible six-game suspension. If that happens the Saints will pass more during that stretch of games. Winston has plenty of weapons at wide receiver and tight end. He has Michael Thomas, Jarvis Landry, Chris Olave, Marquez Callaway, and Taysom Hill. If Thomas is at least 90% healthy at the start of the season Winston could put up some monster numbers.

Let’s not forget that Winston has had three seasons with over 4,000 yards and in one of those he had over 5,000 yards and was a top-five quarterback.

Atlanta Falcons: Kyle Pitts

Pitts finishes outside the top 6 at TE.

A few things are working against Kyle Pitts this season and the biggest is quarterback. Marcus Mariota is a HUGE downgrade from Matt Ryan. Mariota has never started 16 games in a season and only has two seasons with more than 13 passing touchdowns. Touchdowns or the lack of touchdowns will be the major thing that holds Pitts back from being a top tight end. He could also see more competition for targets this season as well as more attention from defenses.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Leonard Fournette

Fournette finishes as a top 5 RB for the first time in his career.

Leonard Fournette has plenty of room to improve on what he did last season. With Chris Godwin potentially not being ready for the start of the season the Buccaneers might lean more on the run early on in the season. Last season Fournette had only 180 carries in 14 games. However, this season I see him finishing with about 230-240 carries. Another area I see him improving in is touchdowns. He had just 10 total touchdowns last season and I believe that will increase to 14-15 touchdowns this season. I can even see him flirt with 1,500 total yards.

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